Jets coach Rex Ryan spoke with the media on Monday, one day after his team lost 34-0 to the 49ers and lost its top wide receiver to an injury.
Santonio Holmes had an MRI on his foot Monday, but the team still doesn’t have a firm diagnosis other than that it isn’t an ACL or Achilles injury. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports that Ryan said that there are still doctors looking at the results and that the team is still “trying to figure out exactly what it is.” What’s certain, however, is that Holmes will not play next Monday night against the Texans and that the Jets aren’t anticipating getting Holmes back in the lineup too soon after that.
Ryan spoke about Holmes’ return as a matter of weeks. That leaves the Jets awfully thin on targets for Mark Sanchez, whose status as starting quarterback Ryan reaffirmed on Monday after reaffirming it on Sunday. We’re guessing that won’t be the last affirmation of Sanchez’s status this week, although all the confidence in the world isn’t going to help him much if the Jets don’t have anyone to catch his passes.
Tight end Dustin Keller has missed three straight games with a hamstring injury and rookie wideout Stephen Hill was sidelined by a similar injury against San Francisco, leaving the team without three starters once Holmes went down. No one should be keeping their hopes up for a Plaxico Burress reunion or a Terrell Owens sighting, however.
“I have confidence in the guys we have,” Ryan said. “If we’re healthy, I feel good about our group.”
It probably goes without saying that there aren’t too many other people with good feelings about the Jets at this hour.